The Other Side
by Encantria
Summary: Zander finds out what its like to cross to the other side. Pure Zevie fluff.


**HTRobsessed has been requesting this one shot for ages, and has insisted that I put in on fanfiction, as she doesn't want to read it any other way. So, Darling, enjoy. Now my phyco-babble on the subject of disturbing the peace should make sense.**

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Zander had never been more thrilled that his best friend was _extremely_ pretty, than the day that they took pictures in the photo booth. It had never really occurred to him before that Stevie could be classified as 'perfect' in her looks. He had always just thought of her as Stevie, his very smart best friend who was very musically talented, her outer beauty had never really occurred to him.

So when she grinned happily and pointed out their expressions with animated hand gestures and a bubbly giggle, Zander knew that he had the prettiest girl in school as his best friend. He took pictures of the strip of photos as artfully as he knew how and changed every profile picture on every social media platform he had to him and Stevie. Ensuring to tag her in each and every one.

Sitting in her room later that afternoon, he watched Stevie produce from her large selection of Phone cases, a clear case which she promptly filled with the pictures. She then bounded over to him and jumped on top of him with a giggle, showing him the back of her phone. _It looked_ , he thought with an amused smile, _perfect, in a very_ Stevie _way._

It was usual for at least one of Stevie's brothers to interrupt them at some point in the afternoons he spent at Stevie's. This afternoon was no different.

"Get out Ben!" Stevie growled, trying to push her smirking older brother out the door. Ben simply put his hand against the door post and stood still as Stevie tried everything she could to get him out the door.

"That'll never work!" Ben sing-songed, clearly enjoying how much effort she was putting in to this without getting anything out of it.

"What do you want?" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

"I kinda bored…" he replied.

She scowled and tried pushing him again. "Get out!"

Ben laughed, "I'm kidding! Don't get so worked up Stevasaurus! We were all going to make dessert pizza and watch a James Bond film and wanted to know if you two wanted to join?"

Stevie looked surprised. "Oh…" she bit her lip and turned to Zander, "hungry?"

"Nahhh…" Zander said, "The four burgers and 2 smoothies I had before filled me up."

She turned back to Ben, "thank you for the invitation, but Zander and I are fine. Now, get out!"

Ben gave another laugh, smiled at the two of them like he knew something they didn't and pulled the door closed behind him as he left.

"So." Stevie said, as she flopped back down next to him on the bed, "What's your opinion on swordfish? Do you think their actually mean? Or just misunderstood?"

This was what he loved about their afternoon talks, Stevie always had something crazy to say. Things that she would only ever say to him. She never said anything like this in front of the others, her tough exterior only ever came down when it was just them, not even in front of Nelson, who she'd known practically her whole life. He liked when she wasn't trying so hard to be tough, when she giggled and twirled in puffy dresses in prom shops, showing her girly side that rarely appeared.

They were both so used to abandoning their homework or the song they were supposed to writing in favour of talking, that it had become a habit. It was the kind of habit that neither of them acknowledged or talked about, simply coordinating their actions so they both knew exactly what they were doing.

Their relationship- Zander had to admit- was different than what most best friends shared. They were comfortable with sitting on top of one another, thumb wrestling before class and retrieving the other ones books when needed. And he knew that the rest of the band didn't understand at all.

Kacey frowned as he held out his spoon to Stevie when they got ice-cream after band practice the following afternoon, Stevie ignored Kacey, and simply took the bite of butterscotch ice cream he had offered her.

"S'really good." Stevie smiled as she swallowed, promptly holding out her own ice cream to him, "liquorice?" she asked, with a cheeky grin.

"Ew! V! Why did you get liquorice?" Zander responded with a laugh.

She shrugged and bit her lip with a grin, "It sounded interesting! And I've never had liquorice ice cream before!"

He shook his head at her and held out another spoonful of his ice cream which she accepted happily.

It was automatic now, to give each other some of whatever they were eating, weather it was a lunch and he handed her all his mushrooms and then gave her a bite of his pasta and she pulled the pickles of her burger with a disgusted groan before letting him try some, they always ate each other's food.

Molly had made a snide comment about the situation once, stating that 'it was a good thing everyone's favourite loser couple shared food with each other, because no one else would'. Which had made Stevie ball up her fists and start muttering insults under her breath while she irritably stabbed at her salad with her plastic fork. Zander had laughed and responded that at least they _had_ someone to share food with.

It never mattered that their relationship was different, it only mattered that they understood each other.

Stevie was defiantly much more drunk than him as he drove them both back to his house that Saturday evening. She was much bouncier than usual and had giggled happily as he'd helped her into his car, holding onto him to keep herself from falling- though her balance was strangely better drunk than sober.

And she was much flirtier.

"You know Z," she'd said, propping her chin on her hand and leaning close to him over the round table they were sitting at, "you dance really well."

He'd smiled at her, "you're pretty good yourself."

She giggled and tilted her head a little. "Zander?"

"Yeah?"

Stevie grabbed his hand, "I'm so glad you're my best friend!"

He laughed and poked her nose, "I glad you're my best friend to."

Stevie let out another bubbly giggle and pulled him on to the dance floor, twirling around several times and collapsing on to him dizzily.

Lucky it had been a slow song next and all she had to do was keep her arms around his neck.

As he'd helped her out of the car latter she'd pulled him in to a tight hug and kissed his cheek, "you're the best Zander!"

He shook his lead with a laugh, "oh, V! You're so drunk…"

She only giggled in response and pulled him up to the house, stopping long enough for him to unlock the door before charging straight to his room.

He might not be quite as smashed as her, but he still had trouble keeping up with her up the stairs, they didn't stay as still as he'd hoped…

She pulled him down on top of her, once shed flopped on his bed, smirking at him, her fingers finding his ribs and starting to dance gracefully over them.

Zander shook his head and grabbed her hands, pinning them above her head before she could react, and then starting at her chin, worked his way down, tickling her as she laughed hysterically. She was panting when he finally let go, her hair messily spread out over the pillow.

It took a few minutes for Zander to realize that the only thing they were doing was staring at each other, he felt somewhat entranced by her, the way she smiled up at him and rested her hand on his cheek moments later only made his heart beat faster.

Without thinking, Zander brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, leaning a little closer so that their noses almost touched. "Did you have fun tonight?" he breathed out.

She nodded, "yeah. But only because you were there." She looked at him for a moment and bit her lip, running her thumb over his cheek with an odd expression.

"Can I rub that in Kasey, Kevin and Nelsons faces?" he whispered, twisting one of her lose curls round his finger. Her breathing was shallower than before, he noticed. Like she was nervous.

He took a deep breath and let the hand on her waist move up and down a little, trying to gage her reaction. She gave a little gasp.

It took till his hand had travelled from her ribs to her hips again, for her to pull him closer and kiss him.

Well. He wasn't expecting such a quick response from her.

It's a kiss unlike any Zander has ever experience before. Stevie is very definite in her movements, and Zanders pretty sure that this is the best kiss he's ever had. He never wants her to pull away, he never wants this to end, right now, she's air. He feels her run her hand through his hair slowly, like she wants to memorise the way his curls feel. And at the same time, he runs his fingers teasingly down her stomach, her thigh and stopping when he got to the hem of her dress before going back up again.

They do pull away eventually, both breathing hard. "wow." Stevie whispers, and Zander silently agrees.

It's in the moments after as they stare at each other again, that Zander realises that they've officially crossed the invisible barrier between best friends and lovers. He doesn't want to ever go back.

But, he has to think about her, and she's drunk and probably not thinking straight. (Then again, he thinks he's the only person she's flirted with all evening, even before drinking). But she pulls him back into her, wrapping her legs around him, and letting him feel the way the material of her skirt hiked up a bit.

This dress was different to the ones she usually wore- the strapless, black and white puffy dresses that had become her trademark over the years. This dress was tight and red, with a halter neck, it stopped mid-thigh, and Zander had silently admitted to himself, that while he had seen her in a bikini before, he was much more attracted to her while she was wearing this.

"Steves…" he starts to get out between kisses.

"Mmmm?" she responds, without pausing.

"Do you, um…" it's hard to form thoughts, let alone sentences while she's doing this, her lips having travelled from his, down his neck and to his collar bone. He knows the love bites she'll leave will be plainly visible in the morning, but he doesn't care.

It takes him a few minutes to be able to gather enough strength of mind to pull her up and cup her cheeks in his palms, placing a gentle kiss on her nose and seeing her let her eyelids flutter as he did.

"V." he starts, his eyes searching hers. "Are you sure this is what you want? You are drunk…"

She doesn't let him continue, placing a finger over his lips and nodding, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life." She whispers. "Look, we are literally the most perfect set of best friend, so, why not see if _this_ is perfect? We won't know unless we try."

She doesn't need to say anymore, he's pressed his lips to hers. They're going to disturb every bit of peace in their lives, but Zander doesn't care. Who cared about the proper order of things when he was about to go on the biggest adventure yet?

Everything that would have seemed cliché before suddenly seemed to fit perfectly. The sparks that he felt reminded him of fireworks on the fourth of July (that was like a line out of one of Kacey's cheesy romance novels, god, what was she doing to him?)

Stevie made the decision half an hour later, biting her lip and leaning close to his ear to whisper, "tonight, we're going all the way." And Zander has to agree, finding that her hands had already made their way under his shirt.

He fumbles with the zipper of her dress as she gives him her signature smirk through her eyelashes, clearly enjoying his struggle. And, just to tease her, he leans into her neck and places kisses all the way down to the top of the material, enjoying the moan she emitted in response.

If the truth be told, Zander was more than nervous. He's never been this far with any girl, and the idea that his first might be Stevie, had never even crossed his mind.

But they both want this, because through the haze of drink and partying, had come the almost too clear realisation that _he liked her._ And he knew she had the same feeling.

Once he's got the zipper of her dress undone he pins he against the wall next to his bed, ensuring to tease her as much as possible while he gets her dress off. She whimpers a little as his cold fingers touch her bare stomach, bucking her hips up a little in complaint. But he doesn't speed up. Because they're both going to remember this, and he's going to ensure it's special.

She is, in every way, flawless. Zander decides after, feeling her breathing slow and steady beside him, their legs tangled together. But, even as the hangover kicks in, Zander couldn't imagine anyone else he'd rather walk down this road with.

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 **Do review, it makes me happy :)**


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